


Let's Get Rollin'

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [19]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Intimacy, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Punishment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:27:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28935516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: Ollie has picked up one of Elio's worst habits. Whether by nature or nurture, Oliver isn't pleased.
Relationships: Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 10
Kudos: 17





	Let's Get Rollin'

Elio was especially cheerful as he shoved the door open. He'd had to use some combination of his elbow and his hip to open the door, because his hands were full. Full of the usual books and notebooks he carried to graduate school every day, but also full of the goodies he'd picked up on the way home. It was board game night, so he'd picked up some snacks and drinks. He had purchased Ollie some of the Flamin' Hot Cheetos he liked. Neither Elio nor Oliver understood how a seven-year-old could tolerate them, because they certainly lived up to their name. In truth, Oliver didn't like for Ollie to eat them, because they stained his fingers red, and then Ollie would leave tiny red fingerprints around the house. But, Elio hoped Oliver wouldn't complain. Ollie hadn't had them in quite a long time, and was going to be so excited. 

"I'm home!!" Elio sang out as soon as he'd managed to awkwardly kick the door shut behind him. He immediately noticed the absence of his little miniature doppelganger. This was, indeed, unusual, because Ollie nearly always ran to greet both him and Oliver with an excitement only ever found in children and particularly loyal dogs. 

When he got further into the house, he saw Oliver sitting at the table, doing something for work. This, too, was unusual. Oliver would normally greet him with a kiss. What's more, when his hands were full, as they now were, Oliver would generally come to help him. On this day, though, Oliver only glanced in his direction and offered a weak, "Hey." 

Elio deposited the contents of his arms onto the sofa so that he could sort the items properly and deliver each to its appropriate place. "Where's Ollie?" Elio asked. 

Oliver looked at him and narrowed his eyes a bit. "What? No hello?" 

Elio felt tiny pin pricks of anxiety dance across his face as soon as he saw Oliver's face and heard his tone of voice. "Hello," he said dutifully. Then he added after a pause, "Where's Ollie?" He began carrying the night's snacks over to the credenza where they usually set out all of the snacks for board game night. 

"May as well put that in the pantry," Oliver said and turned his head back to his work. The pin pricks of anxiety began to multiply, and Elio felt the heat of them in his cheeks. 

"What happened?" he asked, sitting in the closest of the three vacant chairs at the table. 

Oliver gave him a dark look. As the look stretched on for several uncomfortable seconds, Elio began to wonder if Oliver in fact expected him to read his mind. He couldn't begin to imagine what had happened, but with the accuracy of any psychic worth his or her salt, he did predict that some unpleasant exchange had occurred between Oliver and Ollie. 

Elio felt the heat of anxiety in his cheeks begin to make its way down, settling onto his neck as well. Elio often found himself torn between his roles of brother and guardian. But, only occasionally, he also found himself balancing his loyalties between Oliver and Ollie. He wondered if traditional parents ever experienced this most unpleasant sensation. There was no way for him to know. 

"Oliver," he said, concern in his voice. "What happened?" 

"Ollie has picked up a mannerism of yours that I don't intend to tolerate from a seven-year-old," was all Oliver said. He said it with a pointedness that required no further elaboration in any event. 

"What?" Elio asked, growing more confused. This was somehow his fault? 

"Go ask Ollie," was Oliver's reply, as he turned his head back to his work to signify that he had nothing more to add. 

Elio was generally a happy and easygoing person, but there was one thing that could steal his joy faster than anything else, even faster than his overprotection of his little brother. And, that was for Oliver to be unhappy with him in any way. He couldn't imagine what he might have done. He'd simply been at school all day, and then stopped by the store for board game night goodies. 

Oliver clearly had nothing more to say, though, so Elio stood, silently pushed his chair under the table, and made his way to Ollie's room. He wasn't surprised to find Ollie lying on his bed looking miserable. Elio went over and laid down on his side beside his little brother, facing him. They looked at each for a while, not speaking. He was glad to see that Ollie wasn't crying, and didn't look like he'd been recently crying. He hoped that meant that no physical punishment had been deemed necessary. 

Finally, when Ollie didn't offer any elucidation, Elio asked, "So, what happened?" 

Ollie poked his lip out. Elio felt like he'd been transported back in time a few months, when Ollie was still learning what was expected of him and was frequently in some level of trouble. Thankfully, these situations were rare occurrences now. "Tell me," Elio prompted. 

Ollie's eyebrows knitted together, the first telltale signs of temper. Elio decided to try to put the brakes on that, because anger rarely helped to settle things where Ollie was concerned. He shook his head at Ollie, with the slightest look of disapproval. "Tell me," he prompted again. 

Ollie didn't release his eyebrows from their furrowed state, but he did sigh deeply before explaining, "Oliver said I rolled my eyes at him." 

_Ahhhhh_. This made sense to Elio. Oliver hated this particular mannerism when it was directed at him. In truth, he didn't like the gesture in any form, but when it was directed at him, he found it particularly distasteful. Ollie had never rolled his eyes before, not that Elio could remember, but it didn't actually surprise him. It was a gesture that he himself employed on a daily basis, sometimes intentionally, other times not. 

"Oh Ollie, you must not do that, definitely not towards another person," Elio explained with a serious quality to his voice. 

Ollie turned over in a huff, his back now to his big brother who should, he thought, definitely be on his side at all times. 

"Ollie," Elio tried again. Ollie scooted an inch or so away from him. Elio sighed, and then placed a hand on Ollie's back, but Ollie made a flicking motion with his shoulder, making it clear that he wasn't ready to be comforted. 

With another sigh, Elio headed back to the kitchen and took up his post in the vacant chair at the table yet again. 

Oliver looked up at him as if he were grudgingly willing to be debriefed on the conversation he'd just had with his brother. 

"He rolled his eyes at you?" Elio asked, not knowing what more to say. 

" _Three times_ ," Oliver emphasized. 

" _Three_?" Elio asked. This surprised him. Even he himself rarely employed the triple eye roll. 

" _Three_ ," Oliver confirmed, and then looked back down at his work, which Elio now thought might be a syllabus for an upcoming course. 

After a pause, Elio said, "You know, Oliver, a lot of times that's not an intentional gesture. It's automatic." 

Oliver looked up at him, and his facial expression spoke for itself. He wasn't impressed with Elio's reasoning. 

Elio tried again, "Often times, I don't even realize I've done it until afterward. And, I almost never make a conscious decision to do it." 

Oliver sighed, deeply. "It's disrespectful. I don't love it when _you_ do it, but I'm not going to let a _second grader_ roll his eyes at me like that, it's just not going to happen." 

Elio nodded, trying to develop a strategy. He could understand both sides, so now he needed to devise some way to bring those two sides at least a little bit closer together. 

"So, why three times?" Elio asked. 

"What?" Oliver asked in return. 

"You said he rolled his eyes three times. Were they just all in a row, or what?" Elio needed clarification. 

"The first time was when I asked him, _again_ , to pick up his belongings from the floor. He looked me straight in the face and rolled his eyes extravagantly," Oliver explained. 

Elio nodded. He was following so far. 

"So, I told him that he wasn't allowed to roll his eyes at me like that, of course," Oliver said, sensibly. 

Elio nodded. He could visualize the scenario so far. "So he rolled his eyes at that comment, too?" Elio asked. 

"Yes," Oliver nodded. He seemed to be calming down, realizing that Elio understood his point of view. 

"Okay, so the third time?" Elio asked. 

"Well, I told him that if he rolled his eyes at me one more time, he wouldn't come out of his room again for the rest of the night, except for dinner," Oliver explained. 

"Okay," Elio muttered. "And then what?" 

"What do you think? He then rolled his eyes at that!" Oliver said. 

"Yikes," Elio admitted. 

"Yeah. Yikes," Oliver said, turning his attention back to the possible syllabus he was working on. 

"I'll talk to him," Elio said. Oliver reached for Elio's hand then, and Elio felt the heat of anxiety began to recede, at least a little bit. 

"Ollie," Elio said in his best no nonsense voice. Ollie turned over, facing him again, as Elio laid down on the bed, on his side again. They laid facing each other. Ollie wore a grumpy face, and Elio wore a serious, but not angry, expression. 

"Hmm?" Ollie asked. 

"Ollie, you cannot roll your eyes at Oliver. You just cannot do that," he explained. He watched his little brother's eyebrows draw themselves down into two tight, diagonal lines. Ollie reached over and placed his little hand on Elio's arm, suddenly making Elio aware of just how young he still was. 

"I didn't mean to," Ollie huffed. 

"I know you didn't mean to, but you can't. Not even on accident," Elio said. 

"I can't control accidents. That's why they are called accidents," Ollie said, and there was an edginess to his voice. 

"That attitude won't help a thing," Elio said. Ollie sighed. Elio reached across and placed his index finger on the little patch of tight skin between Ollie's eyebrows, rubbing a little circle. This was a familiar routine, and Ollie smiled, releasing his eyebrows from their tortured state. 

Elio smiled, "That's better." He moved his finger, placing his hand on the bed between them, his brother's hand going back to rest there just as before. Elio continued, "Anyway, you may think you can't control the eye rolling, but you can, Ollie. You will noticed you feel it inside before it makes it to your eyes." 

Ollie scrunched up his face into a look that conveyed utter befuddlement. "What?!" 

Elio laughed. "Facial expressions are just like words," he began. "When you were five, you didn't have much control over your words. When you felt angry or upset, sometimes you said things you didn't mean, right?" To provide an example and some comic relief, he mimicked a young Ollie's voice, " _I hate you, Elio!_ " This had the desired effect, making Ollie giggle.

But, Ollie thought about this for a moment and then nodded. He remembered saying some mean things that he later regretted when he was upset, which he rarely did any longer. 

"How did you learn to stop doing that?" Elio asked. 

"Well, I got in trouble for it a lot," Ollie remembered. 

Elio nodded, "Sure, but you also learned to stop and think before you spoke, right?" 

Ollie nodded. 

"This is the same thing. You have to learn to stop and think before you react to things. Because body language is the same as words, and it has the same effect as words. In fact, if your words say one thing, but your body language and face says something else, people will believe your body language before they believe your words," Elio explained. 

"Really?" Ollie sounded interested now. 

"Absolutely," Elio nodded. "We've taught you the power of words, but there's power in body language, too, and you have to stop and think and make sure that just like your words are delivering the message you want to deliver, so too must your body language and face." 

Ollie nodded. 

"Do you understand?" Elio asked. 

"Yeah," Ollie said, and there was a sad quality to his voice. "Do you think we can still have game night?" 

Elio sighed, "I don't think so, Ollie." 

"Why not?" Ollie sulked, but only mildly. He knew. 

Elio smiled, "Because you gave Oliver the dreaded triple eye roll! He's not going to let that go."

"Ugh," Ollie grumbled. 

"Well, there's always tomorrow to try again. Think you can do better?" Elio asked. 

Ollie smiled and nodded. "Yeah!" 

Elio sat up on the edge of the bed and reached over to tickle Ollie. "I hope so because there's Flamin' Hot Cheetos in it for you if you do!" 

"YES!" Ollie exclaimed in his nearly perfect Napoleon Dynamite voice. 


End file.
